Put on a happy face

#FridaysWithSeb

Hiya Munchkins. 

I hope you are all well,  happy and safe in your houses as the times are critical outside. 

I am so happy to talk to you and share with you the many things I am about to bestow to you. Now I am not going to lie, I have had a tough time trying to find something relevant to write to you guys because of the current crisis. I was asking myself questions such as: “Should I talk about the COVID-19?” But I don’t think I should, we are bombarded by that every day on TV…. or “should I talk about how to stay safe?  Again, I do not feel like I need to, everybody knows and quite frankly, maybe everyone is secretly tired of hearing the same old thing on repeat for the last 15 days (though let us be honest, if we repeat, it is because of nutcrackers and Doofenshmirtz’s out there who do not respect the health of others and well… they can… if you see what I mean)

Instead, while I was sleeping, I realized that first off, as a writer, it is okay to have hiatuses and not know what to write or say. I mean, I am not a robot and even though I have a full month to make you a killer article for you to enjoy, sometimes my brain wonders elsewhere and does not want to cooperate. Anyhow, the second thing that I realized is that; in my group of friend, despite being someone who has her ups and downs, I tend to always be positive and bring positiveness to people, so I decided to do the same in this article. It will not be a long one of me reflecting on life, but it will be light and simple, just me talking about how being positive brings great things to your life.

Let’s dive in right into the subject, right now, quarantine sucks… A LOT. I cannot see my friends, my loved one, I am stuck 24/7 with my family – and yes I love them but like… – and everything is closed. I am out of a job, am not motivated or whatsoever to finish my classes, the economy is crashing, and well Apocalypse amirite? I’m kidding… am I?

All of this to say that right now, the following weeks of this situation do not look good, yet the events seem to be beneficial for EVERYONE. Have you realized that the Earth is breathing more freely than when we were moving all the time? The ecosystems are recreating themselves, people are ACTUALLY spending time with their family, taking walks and runs, playing with their children outside, calling each other via facetime or phone to catch up with their entourage, finding new ways to be creative on a daily basis, and I could go on! In all this nonsense, people are being a little bit more human, a little bit more in touch with themselves and their surroundings and are appreciating the little things.

As an introvert, this is probably the best thing that has ever happened because now I do not need to go out or cancel on my friends (sorry) because going out makes me anxious and is too much for me to handle… I do miss my friends however, my class comrades, my colleagues from work, the people I just saw every day because they were there, even some of my teachers… I mean social distancing, as much as I can be an expert in the matter, does affect us all at different degrees. But listen, I am saying this to you extroverts and others who do not know what to do with yourselves: BE CREATIVE. This is the time to renew yourself, to make plans, to go crazy, to reinvent spheres of your life you do not like because you have actual time. 

1. Dig into your past and look at the things you used to love doing and making
2. Sit down in front of a blank anything, it can be a canvas, a piece of paper, your computer, and let your brain go. Stop thinking and write, draw, make whatever it is that our brain wants to express. 
3. Move and be active. It helps A LOT. To free your creative space from all the anxiety or stress or whatever there might be, it helps your creativity to be in control in a way, thus leading you to create a bit more. It does not have to be an intense sport, dancing in front of your mirror works just as much aha.

Right now, you might say that there is nothing good coming out of this and that anyways no one will see it or see your progress but who freaking cares? For the first time, do something for yourself. Open your horizons to new hobbies and appreciate them. Heck, I am almost 23 and I knit every day and puzzle the heck out of a puzzle because I love doing that. I play Sims whenever I can, have dance parties alone in my room, sit with my mom in the living room and sip tea in silence and it is just fun. In this quarantine, instead of living under stress because of school and work etc, I use my creativity to write songs, draw, create houses and decorate them, pretend I am in talk shows and movies and it helps me to have a background story for something I will write in the future. Being someone who is really in touch with her artistic side, I allow myself to explore parts of my imagination because I have time to do so.

I know that these are hard times for us, but at least we still have a roof over our heads, clothes to cloth ourselves, food to feed ourselves, beverages to quench our thirst and a brain to imagine new ways to have fun. 

  Citizens of Oz, or Munchkins, be patient, be radiant, put a bright smile on your faces and remember that tomorrow is always better. Keep on loving one another all the time, be kind to your neighbour, have peaceful moments and DO NOT FORGET TO WASH YOUR HANDS. I am going to leave you with two songs: “Put on A Happy Face” and “Make em Laugh” and ask you to follow us, subscribe and like this post and do not forget to encourage the other writers as well. 

With all my love and heart my sweet Munchkins

Seb